Seniors Ashlee and Emily lead Cheer Dawgs to state

The Toombs County competition cheerleading team will compete in the GHSA State Sectionals on Friday morning in the Columbus Civic Center. The Cheer Dawgs, who are seeded third out of Region 1 AAA, will be the 20th team to hit the mat in a session which begins at 9.

Senior Emily Banks will be making her third trip to Columbus. In her first two trips Toombs made the top eight in the sectional competition and moved to the finals. This season Banks missed two weeks of competition after suffering a concussion, but she returned for region and helped her team score a season-high 244 points. “I was very upset (about not being able to compete due to injury), but I was also proud of my team for getting there and getting it done,” Banks said. “I was very excited when we finally hit it full out because my stunt group, that’s the first time we have done it full out in the whole routine.”

Emily has some advice for her younger teammates who will be making their first appearance at state. “My one little detail would be to smile and show facials every single second. Also, being tight in motions because out stunts are very good.”

Beverly says the Cheer Dawgs have been working hard to get ready for state. “We haven’t added any more difficulty right now. We are just working on being clean, clean, clean, clean and making sure everything is tight and sharp. Right now our confidence level is so high. Saturday, at region, we were so nervous about it and now we know we can do it on Friday and Saturday. ”